Port Wentworth Tragedy Profitable for PR Firm

Each year, the Public Relations Society of America gives a Silver Anvil Award, which “acknowledges the very highest level of achievement and is the established icon of the ‘best of the best’ public relations practices.” The latest Silver Anvil has just been given to the communications firm Edelman for its work for Imperial Sugar following the 2008 explosion at its Port Wentworth, Georgia facility, which killed 14 workers and severely injured another 32.

While we here at The Pump Handle have focused on the company practices that allowed for a dangerous accumulation of combustible dust, Edelman was considering another question: “Would Imperial be seen as the helpless victim of a disaster or as a company poised to rebuild?” Edelman was considered an award-winning success because its PR work helped achieve an outcome favorable to Imperial Sugar: the restarting of production at the Port Wentworth facility and stabilization of its stock price.

The writeup of Edelman’s achievements also mentions “turn-on-dime responsiveness,” but the Savannah Morning News’s Larry Peterson has a different perspective on the company’s responsiveness:

Edelman’s Atlanta-based Steve Behm has fielded questions about whether Imperial did all it could have to prevent the disaster.

Behm’s replies have varied widely.

They have included detailed answers, terse denials, refusals to comment and sometimes almost identical statements on different topics.

He also led a campaign to discredit Graham H. Graham, a former company executive who became a whistle-blower witness against Imperial.

Seems like some of us have different definitions of what constitutes success.

1 comment

Do you think Imperial Sugar will share copies of its contract with Edelman and invoices for the PR services? It could be quite telling to see how much a company like Imperial will pay to improve its stock price and image, compared to the investment that should have been made to PREVENT this horrific disaster.

Liz, we should ask the PR Society of America for its complete list of Silver Anvil winners, and find out if this recognition is self-nominated or a recommendation of peers. Let’s see how many other image-management firms like Edelman take pride in defending employers that kill, poison or maim workers.